Parents aren’t happy with plans to redraw school boundaries in Kitchener’s south end – and at least one parent says legal recourse may be an option.
At issue is J.W. Gerth Public School on Apple Ridge Drive.
The school is overpopulated, and the Waterloo Region District School Board has proposed two options for dealing with that issue.
One option would see 118 students, chosen based on where they live, sent to Pioneer Park Public School.
The other option is to temporarily remove Grade 5 and Grade 6 at J.W. Gerth, and send those students to Doon Public School for two years until a new school is built.
Parents are split over the issue for a variety of reasons, including the availability of French immersion at J.W. Gerth but not at any of the other schools in the area.
Many parents offered their opinions at a hotly attended school board meeting last week.
One parent, Rui Goncalves, says he may seek legal options to allow his kids to stay at J.W. Gerth if the board opts to send them elsewhere.
“It’s something that we may look at, depending on how things go,” he tells CTV News.
Goncalves lives on Apple Ridge Drive, just down from J.W. Gerth, and doesn’t feel his two sons should be forced to change schools.
A group comprised of parents and board planners are meeting Tuesday night to pick an option to recommend to trustees, who will look at the issue next week.
A WRDSB spokesperson says nobody was available Monday to comment on a situation involving possible legal action.
